It’s been four years since the world of wizarding created by British author J.K. Rowling had a cinematic release with the final Harry Potter, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’.
But now, Warner Bros. Pictures have released a teaser trailer for the spin-off by Rowling, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’.
Unlike the ‘Harry Potter’ series, the film is set in 1920’s America it follows writer Newt Scamander, who featured offscreen in the ‘Harry Potter’ story as the writer of one of the most popular books the Hogwarts pupils studied.
Academy award winning actor Eddie Redmayne plays the lead, who appears from the trailer to have a suitcase magically full of mystical beasts.
Speaking at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘The Danish Girl’ in November, Redmayne said of the experience of entering the world of wizarding, “I feel so lucky to be a part of it. J.K. Rowling has written and created such extraordinary characters and I love the world she creates, I love her imagination and to get to be a part of it is kind of wonderful but it’s interesting because whenever you make a film you do it in a kind of vacuum and you don’t really think about judgment – and we’re making the film at the moment – but the first images came out and only then did I feel the weight of the fan base and the scrutiny but I love the character of Newt so I’m enjoying playing him.”
As the story is based in North America, Rowling, who is acting as screenwriter on the film, has made cultural differences between the UK wizards and their Stateside counterparts. Muggles from the ‘Harry Potter’ books, who were non-wizarding humans, are now called ‘No-Maj’.
But when asked if there were any other differences, Redmayne laughed and said “I couldn’t possibly try and say anything. Don’t try and trick me into saying something that could get me wizard zapped for doing.”
‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is slated for release in mid-November 2016. (Reuters)
